Singapore has a diverse music culture that ranges from rock and pop to folk and classical. Its various communities have their own distinct musical traditions: the Chinese people form the largest ethnic group in Singapore, with Malays, Indians, and smaller number of other peoples of different ethnicity as well as Eurasians,[1] the different people with their traditional forms of music, the various modern musical styles, and the fusion of different forms account for the musical diversity in the country.

It has an urban musical scene, and is a centre for pop, rock, punk and other genres in the region, the country has produced in the 1960s bands like The Crescendos and The Quests, right up to the new millennium with pop singers such as Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin. Folk music of Singapore includes the ethnic music traditions of the Chinese, Malay and Tamil communities. Singapore also has a lively Western classical music scene.

Singapore has been a regional centre of music industry for a long time. Recordings of Chinese and Malay popular music were done at the EMI studio in Singapore in the colonial period, but until the 1960s, recordings were sent to be pressed in India and the records then sent back for sale,[2] it was a centre of Malay popular culture where Malay stars such as P. Ramlee were based, but after Singapore independence in 1965, the Malay music industry began to shift to Kuala Lumpur.[3]

In the 1960s, local bands in Singapore were inspired by Western groups such as Blue Diamonds, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, and The Beatles. Popular groups of the period included The Crescendos who performed in English with hit songs like "Mr Twister", The Quests who had hits like "Shanty", "Don't Play That Song", "Jesamine" and "Mr Rainbow", as well as other pop-rock bands including The Thunderbirds, The Trailers, The Crescendos, The Western Union Band, October Cherries and The Silver Strings. A Malay genre influenced by British rock and pop called Pop Yeh-Yeh emerged in the 1960s,[4][5] the bands performed in the Malay language, although some may also performed in English or were instrumental. Malay pop bands of the 1960s included Naomi & the Boys who produced a household hit song "Happy Happy Birthday Baby", D'4 Ever, Antarctics, Mike Ibrahim & the Nite Walkers, Swallows, Ismail Haron & the Guys, and Les Kafila's. In the late 1970s and early 1980s saw the rise of rock bands such as Sweet Charity fronted by the vocalist Ramli Sarip,[6] the band had such an influence in the Singapore and Malaysia music scene that it later led to a rock explosion in the mid 1980s.

Singapore also emerged as a centre of local Chinese recording industry in the 1960s, producing Chinese pop music in Mandarin with local singers,[7] from the 60s to the 80s, local stars such as Chang Siao Ying (張小英), Sakura Teng (樱花), Rita Chao (凌雲), and Lena Lim (林竹君) were popular in Singapore and Malaysia.[7] A few, such as Lena Lim, also had some success outside the region.

There are speakers of various dialects amongst the Chinese population, such as Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, and Teochew, and different dialect speakers may have their own clan associations which support their respective forms of opera. Opera troupes were first formed by amateur music clubs; the earliest amateur music club in Singapore is the Er Woo Amateur Music & Dramatic Association (馀娱儒乐社) set up in 1912 by Teochew businessmen, initially to promote music of the Hakkas (Hanju opera and Handiao music), later also Teochew opera.[10] A number of recordings of Hanju opera performed by Er Woo were made in the 1920s and 1930s. Many amateur opera troupes that performed in various dialects were later established,[11] these opera troupes typically perform during festivals and national events, and may also hold regular small-scale performances, or large-scale ones annually or biannually.[12] During Chinese festivities there was also a minstrel tradition called zouchang (walk-sing), which involves walking performance by members of the operatic troupes; in the past there may be makeshift stages that appeared during festivities along the streets where operas may be performed, however operas have declined as popular entertainment and these have mostly been replaced by getai where modern songs and comedy routines are performed.[1]

There are many full-sized Chinese orchestras in Singapore, the first Chinese orchestra was formed in 1959 by the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association (陶融儒乐社), which was established in 1931 by former members of Er Woo.[10] The Singapore Chinese Orchestra is the only professional Chinese orchestra in Singapore,[13] however amateur Chinese orchestras formed by clan associations, community centres and schools are common.[14] There are also chamber ensembles such as those of the Nanguan tradition from Siong Leng Musical Association.[15] Drumming performances which accompany the traditional Lion Dance are also popular.

Music genres popular in neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, such as Dondang Sayang and Keroncong, were also popular among Malays in Singapore. Vocal performances accompanied by kompang and hadrah drums are among the most popular types of Malay music in Singapore, and may be performed during weddings and official functions. Other vocal genres such as dikir barat and ghazal are also popular.[1] An old tradition of Malay opera called Bangsawan existed since the 19th century but had declined, although there are modern attempts at reviving the genre.[16]

Hindustani and Karnatic music are two forms of Indian classical music that may be found in Singapore. Other forms of music that are popular are Bhajan and Bhangra music,[1] and professional Bhangra troupes may perform at festivities and special events.

The Peranakans are descendants of early Chinese immigrants who had intermarried with the local Malay population, or had adopted, partly or fully, Malay customs, their folk music is noted for its fusion of English in Malay-inspired tunes, largely because the Peranakans themselves are often conversant in both languages. Contemporary tunes continue to be composed based on the Peranakan culture, such as "Bunga Sayang" composed in 1994,[17] a theme song from Dick Lee's musical "Kampung Amber", the song became an often-sung staple of the National Day Parade, and gained international exposure when it was performed for the opening ceremony of the 117th IOC Session at the Esplanade.

Well-known classical musicians from Singapore include Lynnette Seah, Lim Soon Lee, Siow Lee Chin, and Abigail Sin. Some, such as conductor Darrell Ang and Vanessa-Mae, are expat working overseas, there are however an increasing number of local musicians who are actively involved in the classical music scene of Singapore,[23] some of these classical musicians have ventured into other genres and taken their music to public places, such as the Lorong Boys, who sometimes perform in MRT trains.

Alternative and indie rock music influenced bands in the 1990s such as Concave Scream, Humpback Oak, The Padres, Oddfellows, and Livionia; in the Pop/Rock genres were "KICK!", Lizard's Convention & Radio Active.

Extreme Metal veterans Rudra who created a new metal genre called Vedic Metal and a cult following worldwide. The band has also attracted the attention of Musicologists. Several papers have been published about Vedic Metal and the band,[25]

Bastardized: Pioneer Doom Melodic Death metal band existing since 1993. "With Love, With Hate, With Grief, With Pain." EP released under Valentine Sound Productions 1994. Poetry styled album "The Over Burdened" expected release in 2016.[26]

Local Death Metal "Assault" band new album "The Fallen Reich" features current Taiwan member of Parliament & "ChthoniC" Frontman Freddy Lim and Maldive metal band "Nothnegal" Guitarist Fufu.

There is however little support for metal in Singapore's mainstream media, the heavy metal scene in Singapore therefore has established its own ways of disseminating information by utilizing popular internet based social mediums such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs. One notable organisation is Heavy Metal Tribune, which features many local metal acts as well as others from other parts of the world, mainly to allow each region to reach out to one another, while providing local metalheads to know what they are up against. Heavy Metal Tribune also provides gig organisers with a platform to publicise their events, via their Facebook wall or its monthly publication,[29] some Metal music of this generation may be featured occasionally on Brader Bo's show, Vicious Volume of RIA 89.7fm. Oshiego was also featured in Lime Magazine's 30 Hottest Local Acts, a compilation CD, with the song "Now Suffer" originally from the titular EP.[30]

Two Singapore rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s, Heritage and Zircon Lounge, showed tendencies to create music beyond conventional rock idioms; in the late 1980s, Corporate Toil baited audiences with noisy electronic performances influenced by industrial/new wave bands like Suicide or Einstürzende Neubauten. In the 1990s, Kelvin Tan produced literally dozens of albums of avant folk and improvised guitar, as well as assembling the short-lived Stigmata featuring bassist Ian Woo and saxophonist Kelvin Guoh. Zai Kuning, largely known as a visual artist and dancer, lived for a period in Japan and collaborated musically with Tetsu Saitoh, a famed Japanese cellist. Zai also created his own form of Malay folk and gypsy blues music, singing incantations in his deep tenor while playing a loose form of open tuning guitar.

By the late 1990s and into the 2000s, a group of experimental laptop artists appeared: George Chua, Yuen Chee Wai, Evan Tan, Ang Song Ming, and Chong Li-Chuan, the last having received the bachelor's and master's degrees in music at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Straddling the world of digital effects and acoustic instruments was the duo aspidistrafly, who eventually gained an enormous following in Japan, producing their own music and running their kitchen.label. The Observatory, a supergroup formed from the ashes of Leslie Low's folk rock Humpback Oak trio, have been widely regarded as one of the best bands in Singapore, with Yeow Kai Chai of The Straits Times writing, "No other Singapore band, past or present, has captured the imagination quite like The Observatory."[31] With every album, The Observatory have pushed at the limits of the song form, incorporating prog rock, jazz, avant garde guitar, drones, black metal, and more.

Musical outsiders Engineered Beautiful Blood (Shark Fung and Wei Nan) blazed a hot trail of no wave improvised rock, then stopped playing in 2009. However, their members eventually formed a larger improvised rock ensemble, I\D, which itself would splinter off into smaller groups and configurations. Shark Fung himself has been a key figure in the musical margins, with his idiosyncratic solo drums-and-electronics noise outfit Awk Wah, and forming the collective structured improv group BALBALAB with Wu Jun Han, Dennis Tan and Zai Tang in late 2014, around the middle of the 2000s, another grouping calling themselves Under the Velvet Sky wowed audiences with their performances that evoked prog rock, free jazz, traditional Malay and Chinese music, and more. Again, the loose nature of the collective enabled them to create other projects such as Gulayu Arkestra, Five Leaves Left and Cactus - not to mention the solo efforts of members Jordan Johari Rais and Imran Abdul Rashid.

The Flux_Us store at Peninsular Plaza, opened and run by the Singapore Sonic Arts Community, was an important space for a good two to three years around 2006–2007. Besides stocking local experimental music releases, they also imported CDs and records from international labels like Fonal, Rune Grammofon, Paw Tracks, Sublime Frequencies, Kranky, and more, being practically the only retailer where one could find such music, they also organised in-store gigs featuring local and international artists such as Lucas Abela. Above all the store provided a physical space for like-minded musicians and fans to meet and share ideas.

The influence of an expatriate community cannot be ignored. Lindsay Vickery (Aus), Tim O'Dwyer (Aus), Darren Moore (Aus), Brian O'Reilly (US), all at some point associated with the music programmes at LASALLE College of the Arts, were involved in organising showcases and festivals of experimental and improvised music, their interaction and collaboration with local players energised the local experimental music community.

Since 2010, Ujikaji was established as a do-it-yourself experimental music label, distro and event organiser, it has released albums by Magus, Dream State Vision, and Awk Wah. It has been a partner of The Observatory in the innovative Playfreely series of improvised music events.

In 2002, Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which is the de facto national performing arts centre of Singapore, was launched.[33] It focuses on the island's multi-genre music making, and is now the venue for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's subscription and gala concerts; in addition, the arts centre has ensured a representation of classical and traditional music from the four primary cultures in the land. In particular, the regular festivals of Hua Yi, Pesta Raya and Kalaa Utsavam ensure that interpreters of these different repertories are heard on a regular basis.

The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay also presents 3 music festivals, including Baybeats which aims to groom the local alternative music scene and youth culture, providing opportunities for youths and the music community to participate and enjoy their own music at low cost. Many ticketed as well as non-ticketed performances at the Esplanade feature local musicians from Singapore.

In Singapore, General Music Programme is offered to all students in primary and secondary schools.[34] Enhanced Music Programme, started in 2011, is offered as an upper secondary programme in selected schools.[35] Tertiary education on music is also available in Singapore – the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, established in 2001, is the first to offer a four-year full-time Bachelor of Music degree programme.[23] The conservatory is part of the National University of Singapore operating as an international franchise of the Peabody Conservatory, and it serves as a centre of training for young musicians in the Asia Pacific region with full scholarship provided.[36][37]

Of particular note to the Singaporean music scene is what are often collectively known as National Day Songs (国庆主题歌). Written as part of Singapore's nation-building efforts, they either incorporate local folk songs (such as "Chan Mali Chan"), contemporary songs ("The Magic Is You"), or are specifically composed around a particular theme for the National Day Parade which is held every year on August 9, the tradition of a National Day Song started in the 1980s, although there may not be a song every year, for example in 2014 when older songs were reprised.[38]

In 1984, Stand Up for Singapore, was initially created for the sole purpose of celebrating Singapore's achievements in 25 years of self-government. Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and composed by Hugh Harrison, the song struck a chord with Singaporeans, especially when they heard it performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and so the first 'official' National Day Song was born, the government, realizing just how much the public enjoyed singing as a way of celebrating, commissioned a new song for 1986. As a result, Count On Me, Singapore, also composed by Hugh Harrison, arranged by Jeremy Monteiro and performed by Clement Chow, became the 2nd 'official' National Day Song, the trend continued the next year, 1987, with We are Singapore, again composed by Hugh Harrison and arranged by Jeremy Monteiro. Then, in 1990 with the addition of One People, One Nation, One Singapore composed by Jeremy Monteiro with lyrics by Jim Aitchison for the nation's Silver Jubilee - 25 years of independence, the list of 'official' National Day Songs topped out at four.

Since 1998, National Day Songs have become less 'grandiose' and more popular in nature being composed for and sung by selected local artists and sometimes even included in their albums to be marketed overseas.

2005: "Sing Our Wishes" - Also used as official song for Ministry of Education schools for Racial Harmony Day 2005

2005: "We Can"

An ad-hoc offshoot of these National Day Songs are the songs specially composed for groundbreaking events. A prominent example was the song Moments of Magic, written by Hype Records CEO Ken Lim specially for Singapore's millennium celebrations towards the end of 1999, it was performed by three notable singers - Fann Wong, Tanya Chua and Elsa Lin. The music video was directed by Singapore filmmaker Eric Khoo.

1.
Singapore
–
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations

2.
Culture of Singapore
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The culture of Singapore is the combination of Asian and European cultures. Influenced by Malay, South Asian, East Asian, and Eurasian cultures, Singapore has been dubbed as a country where East meets West, Easy Asia, Singapore history dates back to the third century. It was a state of various empires before being reestablished and renamed by Sang Nila Utama. The island was ruled by various sultanates until 1819, when the British came to the island and set up a port, during British rule, the port of Singapore flourished and attracted many migrants. After independence in 1965, Singapore made its own way and it has a diverse populace of over 5.47 million people which is made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians and Asians of different origins. The system of meritocracy in Singapore ensures that the best and brightest, regardless of race, religion, everyone has access to education, which equips them with skills and knowledge to earn a better living. Indeed, the Education in Singapore ensures that primary education is compulsory for all children of age 7 to 12, parents have to apply for exemptions from the Ministry of Education in Singapore in order to exempt their children under this compulsory rule with valid reasonings. Singapore is an immigrant country. The main religions in Singapore are Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, respect for different religions and personal beliefs is heavily emphasised by the government. To demonstrate the importance of imparting racial harmony knowledge to the youths, students come to school dressed in different ethnic costumes, and some classes prepare performances regarding racial harmony. The concepts of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality are enshrined as stars in the Singapore national flag. Freedom in the World ranked Singapore 4 out of 7 for political freedom, reporters without Borders ranked Singapore 153th out of 180 countries in their Press Freedom Index for 2015. Singapore has several ethnic neighbourhoods, including Little India, Chinatown. Little India is known and patronised by all races within the population for its thalis-- South Indian buffets that are vegetarian and these neighbourhoods are accessible by public transport, especially by Mass Rapid Transit. Singapores Chinatown is an ethnic neighbourhood featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements, Chinatown is located within the larger district of Outram. Ethnic enclaves from the British colonial era, akin to those seen in cities in many Western countries, are largely non-existent. The remnant enclaves such as Little India, Chinatown and Kampong Glam are now mainly business hubs for their ethnic groups and preserved for historic. Singapore maintains tight restrictions on arts and cultural performances, most artistic works have to be vetted by the government in advance, and topics that breach so-called out of bounds markers are not permitted

3.
Dance in Singapore
–
Dance in Singapore comprises traditional and contemporary forms. It has a short history of creative, artistic and professional dance. The range of dance reflects the diversity of Singapore. There is a consistent struggle between the rejection and acceptance of western influences and the re-emphasis of ethnic cultures from time to time. The Singapore identity through dance is a challenging one often on an outward looking rather than the acceptance. Notable non-profit artistic dance legacy include ECNAD and Arts Fission Company, though its predominant ethnicity is Chinese, there are also other Asian communities, especially Indians, Malays and Indonesians. Chinese dances are popular in Singapore. The Lion Dance is performed in the New Year festivities, among other dances performed in other cultural events, the Malay national dance, Zapin, is popular among Malays. Peranakan dance blends Malay and Chinese influences in both choreography and clothing, peranakan music has Malay and Western influences. After World War II, Singaporeans fought for self-government and in search for a new identity, the economy was the main emphasis after self-government in 1959, however, a Ministry of Culture was formed to encourage the preservation and development of Chinese, Malay and Indian dances. Western Modern Dance had not yet been practised in Singapore then, Western influence was then deemed to be undesirable. The Singapore government built its first National Theatre in 1963 to showcase local ethnic dance, the 1st Southeast Asia Cultural Festival was held there. The growing Singapore economy in the 1970s see the formation of its full-time Peoples Association Dance Company, National Dance Festival was organised in 1978. Singapore organised its first Singapore Festival of Dance, the Festival of Dances has an objective of creating new local dance forms through the working together of ethnic dance choreographers but this Singaporean identity did not work out very well. The training programme had culminated in a concert, An Evening of Chinese Dances being performed on 24 Nov 1979, NTDC had evolved to become Theatre Arts Troupe in 1992, after National Theatre Trust amalgamated into the National Arts Council. Since then, Arts Council of Singapore has developed one of the biggest and most ambitious arts council in the world with adequate staff strength covering all aspects of the arts in Singapore. All of which are areas that the council has taken charge themselves, so, private initiative seems to be dying off slowly but surely. It is a repertory company showcasing mainly classical ballet and contemporary ballet works, the late Anthony Then had strong creative influences in creating his own ballet pieces in the past

4.
Demographics of Singapore
–
As of January 2017, the islands population stood at 5.75 million. A large percentage of its population are non-residents, of its population of 5.47 million in 2014,3.87 million were residents,1.6 million non-residents. It is the second densest sovereign state in the world, after the microstate Monaco, Singapore is a multiracial and multicultural country with ethnic Chinese, indigenous Malays, and ethnic Indians making up the majority of the population. There are also Eurasians in Singapore, the Malays are recognised as the indigenous community. Since independence the demographics of Singapore are broadly organised under the CMIO system of categorisation, English is the main working language and is the language used for education in Singapore. The other official languages are Mandarin and Tamil, religions include Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Hinduism, amongst others. The annual total population growth rate for the year 2015 was 1. 2%, singapore’s resident total fertility rate was 1.24 in 2015, the Chinese, Malay and Indian fertility rates were 1.10,1.79 and 1.15 respectively. In 2010, the Malay fertility rate was about 70% higher than that of Chinese, Singapore has attempted to boost the fertility rate for years to the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman. The growth of population in Singapore was for a long period fueled by immigration, early population figures soon after of the founding of colonial Singapore show that a large number of the population were Chinese who were overwhelmingly male, with most the rest Malays. The 1826 figures give a population of 13,750,5,747 Chinese males. The figures for around a thousand Indians in 1826 are also similarly skewed towards male –209 male and 35 female Bengalis,772 males and 5 females from the Coromandel Coast. The imbalance of the sexes continued for a period, for example. Such imbalance also meant that people were born in early Singapore. By the late 1890s, only around 10% of the Chinese population in Singapore were born there, change in social attitude in the modern era also meant that Chinese women were freer to emigrate from China, and the sex ratio began to normalise. This gradual normalisation of sex ratio also meant an increase in the number of native births, after World War II, in the period from 1947 to 1957, Singapore saw a massive population increase mostly due to increased number of native births. Immigration to Singapore also fell sharply after Singapore independence due to control of immigration from Malaysia. The population increase became dominated by native births with 315,400 in the 1970–1980 period due to increase compared to 24,000 from net migration. By the decade of 1990-2000, the net migrant number of over 600,000 had surpassed the growth of the population

5.
Driving in Singapore
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In Singapore, cars and other vehicles drive on the left side of the road, as in neighbouring Malaysia, due to its British colonial history. As a result, most vehicles are right-hand drive, however, exemptions have been made to allow foreign vehicles and construction machineries to utilise the roadspace of Singapore. As such, vehicles with left hand configurations are required to either be driven with a sign indicating LEFT-HAND-DRIVE or towed. The per-capita car ownership rate in Singapore is 12 cars per 100 people, the earliest roads in Singapore, after its founding in 1819, were laid out in the Jackson Plan of 1822 in keeping with Sir Stamford Raffless directions. A grid system was adopted for the town with roads for carriages being 16 yards wide, and these roads were fairly advanced for the time, with Macadam surfacing used on High Street as early as 1821. Roads were also constructed across the rest of the island, although they were usually unsurfaced, most of the roads were accessible to the kampong roads by 1845, and finally to the HDB developed roads since the 1960s. Currently, there are a lot of roads and expressways in Singapore, the first motor car was introduced in Singapore in 1896. As with many urban areas of the time, all the earliest modes of transport were replaced by todays transport. A class 3 or class 3A licence permits the holder to drive motorcars weighing less than 3,000 kg when unladen, in addition, the holder may drive a motor tractor or other motor vehicles with an unladen weight of less than 2,500 kg. A class 3A licence limits the holder to drive motor vehicles without a pedal, typically automatic transmission cars. Class 3A drivers are not allowed to drive manual transmission cars, drivers must be 18 years old to qualify for a licence including applying for theory lessons. Once a driver passes the Basic Theory Test, a Provisional Driving Licence which lasts for six months, however, a student can choose to apply and pass the Final Theory Test before applying for a PDL and starting driving lessons. The last stage of obtaining a licence is the practical driving test, for which a student must have a FTT pass result slip. The driving theory tests consists of 50 questions to be answered within 50 minutes, to pass, results are shown immediately after the test on the same touchscreen monitor. The Singapore Traffic Police require foreigners residing in Singapore to have a valid drivers licence. Conversion to a Singaporean licence is often possible for certain classes of vehicles, foreigners who have obtained a Singapore licence are supplied with a limited-duration licence which needs to be renewed between one month before expiry to three years after expiry. After this period, the procedure or licensing theory and practical tests must be taken all over again. No renewal of a licence is required for Singapore citizens

6.
Economy of Singapore
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Singapore has a highly developed trade-oriented market economy. The economy of Singapore is a major Foreign Direct Investment outflow financier in the world, Singapore has also benefited from the inward flow of FDI from global investors and institutions due to its highly attractive investment climate and a stable political environment. Moreover, water is scarce in Singapore therefore water is defined as a resource in Singapore along with the scarcity of land to be treated with land fill of Pulau Semakau. Singapore has limited land, meaning that Singapore has to rely on the agrotechnology park for agricultural production and consumption. Human resources is another issue for the health of the Singaporean economy. The economy of Singapore ranks 2nd overall in the Scientific American Biotechnology ranking in 2014, Singapore also has a strategic port which makes it more competitive than many of its neighbours in carrying out such entrepot activities. Singapore has the highest trade to GDP ratio in the world, the Port of Singapore is the second-busiest in the world by cargo tonnage. Singapores government promotes high levels of savings and investment through policies such as the Central Provident Fund, Singapores savings rates have remained among the highest in the world since the 1970s. Most companies in Singapore are registered as private limited-liability companies, a private limited company in Singapore is a separate legal entity, and shareholders are not liable for the companys debts beyond the amount of share capital they have contributed. To attract foreign talents, Singaporean government issues Employment Pass under three categories viz, the Ministry of Manpower oversees the matter related to immigration of workers. These measures aim to boost Singapores productivity, so that Singapore remains competitive, upon independence from Malaysia in 1965, Singapore faced a small domestic market, and high levels of unemployment and poverty. 70 percent of Singapores households lived in overcrowded conditions. Unemployment averaged 14 percent, GDP per capita was US$516, in response, the Singapore government established the Economic Development Board to spearhead an investment drive, and make Singapore an attractive destination for foreign investment. FDI inflows increased greatly over the decades, and by 2001 foreign companies accounted for 75% of manufactured output. Meanwhile, Singapores savings and investment rates rose among the highest levels in the world, while household consumption, as a result of this investment drive, Singapores capital stock increased 33 times by 1992, and achieved a tenfold increase in the capital-labor ratio. Living standards steadily rose, with families moving from a lower-income status to middle-income security with increased household incomes. During a National Day Rally speech in 1987, Lee Kuan-Yew claimed that 80% of Singaporeans could now be considered to be members of the middle-class. However, much unlike the policies of Greece and the rest of Europe

7.
Education in Singapore
–
For both private and state schools, there are variations in the extent of autonomy in their curriculum, scope of government aid and funding, tuition burden on the students, and admission policy. Exemptions are allowed for homeschooling or full-time religious institutions, but parents must apply for exemption from the Ministry of Education, the main language of instruction in Singapore is English, which was officially designated the first language within the local education system in 1987. English is the first language learned by half the children by the time they reach preschool age, certain schools, such as secondary schools under the Special Assistance Plan, encourage a richer use of the mother tongue and may occasionally teach subjects in Mandarin Chinese. A few schools have been experimenting with curricula that integrates language subjects with mathematics, Singapores education system has been described as world-leading and in 2010 was among those picked out for commendation by the Conservative former UK Education Secretary Michael Gove. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded the Singapore Institution in 1823, thereby starting education in Singapore under the British rule, later, there were three main types of schools appeared in Singapore, Malay schools, Chinese and Tamil schools and English schools. Malay schools were provided free for all students by the British, while English schools, Chinese and Tamil schools largely taught their respective mother tongues. Students from Chinese schools in particular were extremely attuned to developments in China, during World War Two, many students in Singapore dropped out of school, causing a huge backlog of students after the war. In 1947, the Ten Years Programme for Education Policy in the Colony of Singapore was formulated and this called for a universal education system that would prepare for self-governance. Apart from being a necessity, education also helped to integrate the new nation together. The bilingualism policy in schools was introduced in 1960, making English the official language for both national integration and utilitarian purposes. Universal education for children of all races and background started to take shape, however, the quality of schools set up during this time varied considerably. The first Junior College was opened in 1969, in the 1980s, Singapores economy started to prosper, and the focus of Singapores education system shifted from quantity to quality. The Gifted Education Programme was also set up to cater to more academically inclined students, in 1997, the Singapore education system started to change into an ability-driven one after then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong outlined his Thinking Schools, Learning Nations vision. Under this policy, more emphasis was given to education, creative thinking. Schools became more diverse and were greater autonomy in deciding their own curriculum. Differences between the various academic streams became blurred, the Ministry of Education also officially acknowledged that excellence will not be measured solely in terms of academics, a mountain range of excellence – with many peaks. The school year is divided into two semesters, the first begins in the beginning of January and ends in May, the second begins in July and ends in November. Kindergartens in Singapore provide up to three years of pre-school for children three to six

8.
Cinema of Singapore
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Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapores film industry declined after independence in 1965. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack, however, most of these were not released in Singapore and cannot be labelled as truly Singaporean productions. The first fully Singapore funded film came in 1991s Medium Rare, which was based on a local cult killer, Adrian Lim. Although it cost over S$2 million in production, the film performed dismally at the box office, the film took in merely S$130,000 locally but broke the ice for the next coming Singapore movie, Bugis Street, which was released in 1995. Bugis Street was a film about the famous sleazy district where transvestites. Both Medium Rare and Bugis Street were directed by non Singaporeans, the same year saw the release of Mee Pok Man, the first full-length film made by an independent Singaporean filmmaker, Eric Khoo, on a tight budget of S$100,000. Concerning a lonely noodle seller who falls for a prostitute, Mee Pok Man earned much critical accolade worldwide and encouraged more experimental, army Daze, made in 1996, took a humorous look at Singapores national service, and turned in high profits at the box office. In 1997 came another Eric Khoo feature film,12 Storeys, the rest of the decade was encouraging for the growing film industry. Glen Goeis Forever Fever was picked up by Miramax for S$4.5 million and these two years saw the releases of a number of other films, such as A Road Less Travelled, God or Dog, Tigers Whip and The Teenage Textbook Movie. However, it was the success of Money No Enough which eventually catapulted the nations drive towards movie-making. Made with less than S$1 million, it raked in S$5,800,000 and it also demonstrated the viable potential of Singapores film industry. The next year would be a year for local films. Eating Air did not break even, That One No Enough barely did and only Liang Po Po, The Movie continued the vein of commercial success of Money No Enough,1999 also marked a watershed for Singapore films. Raintree Pictures, the subsidiary of MediaCorp Productions, was started. Raintree Pictures would finance a number of local and Hong Kong productions in years to come, and are the producer company of the films of Jack Neo. Subsequent productions, such as 2000 AD and The Tree, also drew on Hong Kong star power, Raintree Pictures also produced two English-language local productions, Chicken Rice War and One Leg Kicking. The advent of video also meant that some novice filmmakers could experiment with cheaper alternatives. Features like Stories about Love and Return to Pontianak were both shot on digital videos, even though they were not commercial successes, the success story since the turn of the 20th century must be from local comedian-turned-director Jack Neo

9.
Politics of Singapore
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Executive power is exercised by the cabinet from the parliament, and to a lesser extent, the President. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the Government and is accountable to Parliament, there are three separate branches of government, the legislature, executive and judiciary, though not necessarily meaning that there is a separation of power, but abiding by the Westminster system. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Singapore, the legislature is the parliament, which consists of the president as its head and a single chamber whose members are elected by popular vote. He also exercises powers over civil service appointments and national security matters, Singaporean politics have been dominated by the Peoples Action Party since the 1959 general election when Lee Kuan Yew became Singapores first prime minister. The PAP has been in government and won every General Election since then, Singapore left the Commonwealth in 1963 to join the Federation of Malaysia, but was expelled from the Federation in 1965 after Lee Kuan Yew disagreed with the federal government in Kuala Lumpur. Foreign political analysts and several parties including the Workers Party of Singapore. The Economist Intelligence Unit classifies Singapore as a democratic country, Freedom House does not consider Singapore an electoral democracy and ranks the country as partly free. Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 Press Freedom Index and it has also been alleged that the PAP employs censorship, gerrymandering and the filing of civil suits against the opposition for libel or slander to impede their success. There are however three cases in which opposition leader Chiam See Tong sued PAP ministers for defamation and successfully obtained damages before trial, although dominant in its activities, the government tries to show a clean, corruption-free image. Singapore has consistently rated as the least-corrupt country in Asia. The World Banks governance indicators have also rated Singapore highly on rule of law, control of corruption, however, it is widely perceived that some aspects of the political process, civil liberties, and political and human rights are lacking. The Democracy Index ranks Singapore as 74th out of 167, for example, in September 2005, three bloggers were convicted of sedition for posting racist remarks targeting minorities. Some offences can lead to fines or caning and there are laws which allow capital punishment in Singapore for first-degree murder. Amnesty International has criticised Singapore for having possibly the highest execution rate in the world per capita and this criticism has, however, been contested, as one source shows China as having a higher execution rate. The government of Singapore responded by asserting it had the right as a state to impose the death penalty for serious offences. Prior to 1991, the president was the head of state appointed by parliament and was largely a ceremonial role with reserve powers. As a result of changes in 1991, the president is now directly elected to office for a six-year term by popular vote. The only directly-elected President since the change was Ong Teng Cheong

10.
Religion in Singapore
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Religion in Singapore is characterised by a diversity of religious beliefs and practices due to its diverse ethnic mix of peoples originating from various countries. Most major religious denominations are present in Singapore, a 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the worlds most religiously diverse nation. The most followed religion is Buddhism, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves as adherents at the most recent census, the government of Singapore is officially tolerant of different religions and encourages religious harmony but it also bans Jehovahs Witnesses and the Unification Church. Some religions, especially spearheaded by Chinese ethnic groups, have merged their places of worship with other religions such as Hinduism. A prominent example is that of Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple wherein three religions, namely Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism are co-located. In schools, children are taught in social studies lessons about the Maria Hertogh riots, mixed-race classes, interaction between students of different races and the celebration of religious festivals also help inculcate religious tolerance and understanding from a young age. Another religious landmark in Singapore is the Armenian Church of Gregory the Illuminator, the oldest church in Singapore and it was also the first building in Singapore to have an electricity supply, when electric fans and lights were installed. Today, the no longer holds Armenian services, as the last Armenian priest retired in the 1930s. The Singapore census includes detailed data on religion and ethnicity, and is taken on a ten or five-year basis, figures for religion for the past three decades are, The above figures refer to the resident population only, and do not include the non-resident population. Most Singaporeans celebrate the festivals associated with their respective religions. The variety of religions is a reflection of the diversity of races living there. The Chinese are predominantly followers of Buddhism and Taoism with some exceptional agnostics, malays are mostly Muslims and Indians are mostly Hindus but with significant numbers of Muslims and Sikhs from the Indian ethnic groups. Religion is still a part of cosmopolitan Singapore. Many of its most interesting buildings are religious, be it old temples, modern churches, an understanding of these buildings do play a part in contributing to appreciation of their art. Taoist, Confucian, and Buddhist-inherited doctrines and deities, together with worship, are combined in various ways in the Chinese folk religions. Followers of the Tao adhere to the teachings of the ancient Chinese religious philosophy of Laozi, besides codified Taoism which in Taiwan is mostly represented by the Zhengyi order, Taoism in Singapore also comprehends a wide variety of Chinese folk religions. Ancestral worship is a practice of the Chinese and the Qingming Festival during the second full moon is observed by the majority. This reflects that Chinese tradition remains extant in modern Singapore, although Taoist temples and shrines are abundant in Singapore, the official number of followers has dwindled drastically over the years from 22. 4% to 8. 5% between the years 1990 to 2000

11.
Sport in Singapore
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Singaporeans participate in a wide variety of sports for recreation as well as for competition. Popular sports include Supercar Motorsports, football, basketball, cricket, rugby union, swimming, badminton, living on an island surrounded by the ocean, the people also enjoy many water activities including sailing, kayaking and waterskiing. There is also a number of recreational scuba divers, a prominent diving spot being the southern island Pulau Hantu. Association football is arguably the most popular spectator sport, Singapore has its own professional football league, known as the S. League. Launched in 1996, the league now consists of 10 teams competing each other in stadiums around the country. In 1998,2004,2007 and 2012 the Singapore national football team became the champion of the Tiger Cup, the country has come close thrice. In the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Singapore won 5 gold,2 silver, favourite Singaporean sports include outdoor sports such as football, basketball, cricket, swimming, sailing and various indoor sports such as table tennis and badminton. Most Singaporeans live in residential areas with amenities such as public swimming pools, outdoor basketball courts. As might be expected on an island, water sports such as sailing, kayaking, scuba diving is another recreation, particularly around the southern island of Pulau Hantu which is known for its rich coral reefs. Singapore has its own league, the S-League, formed in 1994. Other foreign clubs are interested in joining, the Singapore Slingers joined the Australian National Basketball League in 2006, which they left in 2008. They are one of the teams in the ASEAN Basketball League founded in October 2009. Beginning in 2008, Singapore started hosting a round of the Formula One World Championship, the race was staged at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in the Marina Bay area and became the first night race on the F1 calendar and the first street circuit in Asia. The Government of Singapore sanctions a variety of sports-based programs for Singapores education system in addition to physical education. The National Physical Fitness Award was introduced in 1982, a scheme which requires the participation of all students within primary and secondary education. As such, although gaining an award is not mandatory, students are pressured to do so. The concept behind the Sports School is that sporting talent should not be compromised when striving for academic excellence, on 21 February 2008 the International Olympic Committee announced that Singapore won the bid to host the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. Singapore beat Moscow in the final by 53 votes to 44, Rugby was introduced to the British colony of Singapore in the late nineteenth century

12.
Transport in Singapore
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Transport within Singapore is mainly land-based. Many parts of Singapore are accessible by road, including such as Sentosa. The main island of Singapore is connected to the islands by ferryboat services. Singapore also has links to the rest of the world. There are two bridges which link Singapore to Malaysia – the Causeway, and the Second Link, the Singapore Changi Airport is a major aviation hub in Asia, and Singapore is a major transshipment port. According to the study conducted by London consulting firm Credo, Singapore has one of the most cost-efficient public transport networks in the world, before World War II, rickshaws were an important part of urban public transportation. Rickshaws were taken over by the trishaw after the world war, the Trishaw has been discontinued for usage as a means of transportation after 1980. However, there are some trishaws left which now serve as tourist attractions, cars As of 2015, there was a total of 957,246 motor vehicles in Singapore, with 519,645 of them being private cars. The planning, construction and maintenance of the network is overseen by the Land Transport Authority. The cable car system underwent a revamp that was completed in August 2010, water transport within the main island is limited to the River Taxi along the Singapore River. The service was introduced in January 2013, with low ridership, there are also daily scheduled ferry services from the Marina South Pier to the Southern Islands such as Kusu Island and Saint Johns Island. Singapore has one of the most cost-efficient public transport networks in the world, Public transport covers a variety of transport modes such as bus, rail and taxi. This is a result of great emphasis by the Government of Singapore to promote its use over private transport, about 5.308 million trips are made on a daily basis on the public transport system and at least half of its population utilises it daily. The public transport system is the most important means of transportation to work and school for Singaporeans. Amongst school-going residents,41. 5% of them go to school by public transport,24. 9% by private transport, and a further 30. 1% do not require any form of transport at all. A slight dip has been noted in the number of Singaporeans and permanent residents using public transport compared to 1990, the government aims to reverse this trend such that the total average number of commuters on public transport rises above 75% of all trips made. 13 bus services begin on 4 September 2016, while another 11 on 18 September. Another route will be introduced in 2017, and details of the route will be announced closer to the implementation date, as of December 2014, the total taxi fleet in Singapore is 28,736 taxis, operated by six taxi companies and 178 independent drivers

13.
Rock and roll
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While elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s. For the purpose of differentiation, this deals with the first definition. The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars, a double bass or string bass or an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. Beyond simply a style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music and it went on to spawn various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply rock music or rock. The term rock and roll now has at least two different meanings, both in common usage, the American Heritage Dictionary and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary both define rock and roll as synonymous with rock music. Encyclopædia Britannica, on the hand, regards it as the music that originated in the mid-1950s. In 1934, the song Rock and Roll by the Boswell Sisters appeared in the film Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round, in 1942, Billboard magazine columnist Maurie Orodenker started to use the term rock-and-roll to describe upbeat recordings such as Rock Me by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. By 1943, the Rock and Roll Inn in South Merchantville, in 1951, Cleveland, Ohio disc jockey Alan Freed began playing this music style while popularizing the phrase to describe it. The origins of rock and roll have been debated by commentators. The migration of former slaves and their descendants to major urban centers such as St. The immediate roots of rock and roll lay in the rhythm and blues, then called race music, particularly significant influences were jazz, blues, gospel, country, and folk. The 1940s saw the use of blaring horns, shouted lyrics. In the same period, particularly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, similarly, country boogie and Chicago electric blues supplied many of the elements that would be seen as characteristic of rock and roll. Rock and roll arrived at a time of technological change, soon after the development of the electric guitar, amplifier and microphone. It was the realization that relatively affluent white teenagers were listening to music that led to the development of what was to be defined as rock. Because the development of rock and roll was a process, no single record can be identified as unambiguously the first rock. Other artists with rock and roll hits included Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis

14.
Punk rock
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Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in 1960s garage rock and other forms of what is now known as proto-punk music, Punk bands typically produced short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic, many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through informal channels, the term punk was first used in relation to rock music by some American critics in the early 1970s, to describe garage bands and their devotees. The following year saw punk rock spreading around the world, for the most part, punk took root in local scenes that tended to reject association with the mainstream. An associated punk subculture emerged, expressing youthful rebellion and characterized by distinctive styles of clothing and adornment, by the beginning of the 1980s, faster, more aggressive styles such as hardcore and street punk had become the predominant mode of punk rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk also pursued a range of other variations, giving rise to post-punk. At the end of the 20th century, punk rock had been adopted by the mainstream, as pop punk and punk bands such as Green Day. The first wave of rock was aggressively modern, distancing itself from the bombast. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone, In its initial form, unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere, by 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock n roll. In critic Robert Christgaus description, It was also a subculture that rejected the political idealism. Technical accessibility and a DIY spirit are prized in punk rock, in the early days of punk rock, this ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands. Musical virtuosity was often looked on with suspicion, according to Holmstrom, punk rock was rock and roll by people who didnt have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music. In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published an illustration of three chords, captioned This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. The title of a 1980 single by the New York punk band Stimulators, inscribed a catchphrase for punks basic musical approach. The previous year, when the rock revolution began in Great Britain, was to be both a musical and a cultural Year Zero. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummers outlook, Punk rock is meant to be our freedom, were meant to be able to do what we want to do. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that attaining authenticity in the identity can be difficult, as the punk scene matured, he observes

15.
Stefanie Sun
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Sng Ee Tze, better known as Stefanie Sun, Sun Yanzi, and known to fans as 13姐, is a singer-songwriter. She is known as the Singaporean Mandopop queen and she has sold over 30 million copies of her albums during the span of her career thus far. She is based in Taiwan, as she does the majority of her recordings there and her popularity extends to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and her native Singapore. Sun has a sister named Sng Yee-kia who is three years older, and a younger sister named Sng Ee-mei who is six years younger. Sun was educated at Nanyang Primary School, St. Margarets Secondary School, Raffles Girls School and she later attended Nanyang Technological University, where she obtained a degree in Marketing, and was said to stay at Hall 6 where she was known for her singing talent. Her voice talent was discovered by her music teacher Lee Wei Song, in the Mandarin-speaking world, Sun is more popularly known by her Mandarin name, Sun Yan-zi or Sun Yanzi. Sun has sold over 30 million copies in Asia, with twelve albums to her name, she is arguably the most successful singer from Singapore. On 8 May 2011, Sun married Nadim Van Der Ros,34 and they had met through a mutual friend and dated for five years, but their relationship was revealed only when she was spotted supporting him at Aviva Singapores Ironman Triathlon in 2009. They had earlier secretly registered their marriage on 31 March 2011, on 30 October 2012, Sun gave birth to her first child, a baby boy weighing approximately 3.4 kg. Most of her songs are sung in Mandarin Chinese, with a few in English, Suns ability to speak various dialects is reflected in the songs she sings. In the song Cloudy Day, she sang in both Mandarin and Hokkien and it is an adaptation of a traditional Hokkien folk song that included the first six words in the original Hokkien- Thiⁿ-o͘-o͘, beh lo̍h-hō͘ – in the chorus. Her second song in her career sang in both Mandarin and Hokkien was released in her 2014 album Kepler, entitled Best Youth. The album Start contained 6 songs in English, covers of Venus, That I Will Be Good, Sometimes Love Just Aint Enough, Silent All These Years, and Hey Jude, and the original song Someone. Her first album was released in June 2000, the self-titled Yan Zi, Yan Zi album sold over 560000 copies alone in Taiwan, and 3.8 million copies in Asia. This was a success for Sun and the record company as a newcomer. This was followed in December of the year as My Desired Happiness, which sold over 800000 copies in Taiwan alone. Her third album was released in early 2001, titled Kite and this album had sold successfully with 900000 copies in Taiwan, also over 4.1 million copies in Asia. January 2002 saw the release of Start, a collection of songs, Start sold over 500000 copies in Taiwan alone, and it also reached high commercial success in Asia with 3.5 million copies sold

16.
JJ Lin
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JJ Lin is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer and actor based in Taiwan. JJ Lin was managed by Ocean Butterflies from 2003 to 2009, in 2011, he signed to Warner Music Taiwan. JJ had won the Best New Artist for his work on his debut album Music Voyager at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in 2004. He won Best Male Mandopop Performer for his 10th album Stories Untold at the 25th Golden Melody Awards in 2014 and he also performed NDP2015 Theme Song, Our Singapore. In Taiwan, he was awarded the Best New Artist award in the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards and he is well known for his songwriting skills. He has written songs for musical artists while he was still a trainee under Ocean Butterflies. His notable compositions include Remember for Taiwanese singer A-Mei, A-Dos Let Go, in Singapore, he was selected to perform the remixed version of Home, the theme song of the National Day Parade in 2004. Lin has sold 1 million copies in less than a week and is extremely successful throughout Asia, in July 2007, he broke a Guinness record by signing 3,052 CDs in 2 hours and 30 minutes. During the signing, he was not allowed to drink or eat, the average time for him to sign a CD was 2.7 seconds. In May 2008, he performed at the CCTV charity event The Giving of Love, Lin also donated a large sum of money to the rescue efforts and composed a song Love and Hope commemorating the tragedy. In February 2008, Lin released an album entitled Waiting for Love. It has selected tracks from several of his albums spanning from his album to 2007s West Side. Later that year, in October, his album, Sixology was released. 280,000 copies of the album were sold in seven days and his own fashion line, SMUDGE, was opened in Singapore during 2008 Christmas with an unofficial launch. The stores official launch was on 13 March 2009, in May 2009, Lin won three awards at the 14th annual Composers and Authors Society of the UK Awards Presentations, a ceremony that honours performers in the music scene. It was held at the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and he was honoured with the Top Local Artiste of the Year award, which is given out to Singaporean artistes who generated the highest royalty earnings for the year. In that same year, Lin won the Singapore Youth Award, in 2009, however, his singing career was put on hold due to his voice being damaged by acid reflux and flu, as well as his hectic touring and recording schedules. It forced him to return to Singapore to recover and receive treatments and he released the seventh album, Hundred Days, on 18 December 2009

17.
Folk music
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Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century, but is applied to music older than that. Some types of music are also called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways, as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers and it has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. Starting in the century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. Smaller, similar revivals have occurred elsewhere in the world at other times and this type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two, a consistent definition of traditional folk music is elusive. The terms folk music, folk song, and folk dance are comparatively recent expressions and they are extensions of the term folklore, which was coined in 1846 by the English antiquarian William Thoms to describe the traditions, customs, and superstitions of the uncultured classes. Traditional folk music also includes most indigenous music, however, despite the assembly of an enormous body of work over some two centuries, there is still no certain definition of what folk music is. Some do not even agree that the term Folk Music should be used, Folk music may tend to have certain characteristics but it cannot clearly be differentiated in purely musical terms. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers, the fashioning and re-fashioning of the music by the community that give it its folk character. Such definitions depend upon processes rather than abstract musical types, one widely used definition is simply Folk music is what the people sing. For Scholes, as well as for Cecil Sharp and Béla Bartók, Folk music was already. seen as the authentic expression of a way of life now past or about to disappear, particularly in a community uninfluenced by art music and by commercial and printed song. In these terms folk music may be seen as part of a schema comprising four types, primitive or tribal, elite or art, folk. Music in this genre is often called traditional music. Although the term is only descriptive, in some cases people use it as the name of a genre

18.
Music of China
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Music of China refers to the music of the Chinese people, which may be the music of the Han Chinese as well as other ethnic minorities within mainland China. It also includes music produced by people of Chinese origin in some territories outside mainland China using traditional Chinese instruments or in the Chinese language and it covers a highly diverse range of music from the traditional to the modern. These further developed into forms of music through succeeding dynasties. Chinese music continues to evolve in the times, and more contemporary forms have also emerged. A twelve-tone musical system was created based on the pitches of the pipes, and the first of these pipes produced the yellow bell pitch. Archaeological evidence indicates that music culture developed in China from an early period. During the Zhou Dynasty, a system of court and ceremonial music later termed yayue was established. The word dance similarly also refers to music, and every dance would have have a piece of associated with it. The most important set of music of the period was the Six-dynasty Music Dance performed in rituals in the royal court, correct music according to Zhou concept would involve instruments correlating to the five elements of nature and would bring harmony to nature. Around or before the 7th century BC, a system of pitch generation, Chinese philosophers took varying approaches to music. Some popular forms of music, however, were considered corrupting in the Confucian view, mozi on the other hand condemned music, and argued in Against Music that music is an extravagance and indulgence that serves no useful purpose and may be harmful. According to Mencius, a powerful ruler once asked him whether it was if he preferred popular music to the classics. The answer was that it mattered that the ruler loved his subjects. In ancient China the social status of musicians was much lower than that of painters, though music was seen as central to the harmony, almost every emperor took folk songs seriously, sending officers to collect songs to record the popular culture. One of the Confucianist Classics, Shi Jing 詩經, contained many folk songs dating from 800 BC to about 400 BC, in subsequent dynasties, the development of Chinese music was strongly influenced by the musical traditions of Central Asia. The oldest extant written Chinese music is Youlan or the Solitary Orchid, composed during the 6th or 7th century, but has also been attributed to Confucius. The first major well-documented flowering of Chinese music was for the qin during the Tang Dynasty, through succeeding dynasties over thousands of years, Chinese musicians developed a large assortment of different instruments and playing styles. A wide variety of instruments, such as guzheng and dizi are indigenous, although many popular traditional musical instruments were introduced from Central Asia, such as the erhu

19.
Music of Tamil Nadu
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Music of Tamil Nadu has a long tradition and history going back thousands of years. Music is an important aspect of the culture of the Tamil people. The tradition of Tamil music goes back to the earliest period of Tamil history, many poems of the Sangam literature, the classical Tamil literature of the early common era, were set to music. There are various references to this ancient musical tradition found in the ancient Sangam books such as Ettuthokai, the early narrative poem Cilappatikaram, belonging to the post-Sangam period also mentions various forms of music practiced by the Tamil people. The musical poet Arunagirinathar further embellished the Tamil musical tradition through his compositions of Tamil hymns known as Thiruppugazh, pann, which is the classical music form of Southern India, has a long history in Tamil Nadu. Later the name was changed as Carnatic music. Even today Pannisai is sung in temple festivals, Tamil Nadu has produced a number of famous performers, as well as a closely related classical dance form Bharatha Natyam. Chennai hosts a cultural event, the annual Madras Music Season. There are 72 basic scales on the octave, and a variety of melodic motion. Both melodic and rhythmic structures are varied and compelling and this is one of the worlds oldest and richest musical traditions. Songs have been composed by artists and handed down through generations of disciples. The composers belonging to the Tamil Trinity of Muthu Thandavar, Arunachala Kavi and Marimutthu Pillai composed hundreds of songs in Tamil. Three saint composers of the 18th to 19th Century, Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri, have composed thousands of songs that remain favourites among musicians, today, Tamil Nadu has hundreds of notable carnatic singers who spread this music all over the world. M. S. Subbulakshmi, a carnatic singer, had the honour of singing a song in the UN Security Council. Folk singing remains popular, especially in areas, elements of the traditional styles are sometimes used in film music. There are contemporary enthusiasts, like Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy, the urumee mellam also remains as one of the more popular forms of folk music in rural Tamil Nadu and the ensemble is most often played with an urumee and the nadaswaram as the instrument of choice. The rural hill tribes of Tamil Nadu each have their own folk traditions, the Pulayar, for example, perform melodies called talams which are said to come from the cooing of birds. Each talam is named after a deity, including Kunhanada talam, Mangalanada talam, Tamil cinema is well known for its talented composers

20.
Malaysian pop
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Malaysian pop or abbreviated as M-pop or Malay pop refers to popular music forms in Malaysia. Although popular music in various such as Mandopop are popular and have been produced in Malaysia. Malaysian pop covers a diverse musical genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, electronic, Malaysian popular music has its origin in local musical tradition and popular European music styles. Some of the musical styles, performers, and songs of Kroncong. The Bangsawan troupes originated in the 19th century as a form of opera called Wayang Pasir that developed as an adaptation of Persian theatre brought to Malaya by performers from Bombay. They portrayed stories from diverse groups such as Indian, Western, Islamic, Chinese, Indonesian and Malay with music, dance, the musicians were mostly local Malays, Filipinos and Goans. Famous early singers such as Temah, Tijah and Dean often incorporate Chinese, Middle Eastern, Western popular music has continually influenced Malaysian popular music since its early days. In the pre-World War II era, songs based on Anglo-American and Latin-American dance music sung in Malay were very popular and these songs were accompanied by dance bands that became known as orkes Melayu. The orkes Melayu, which influenced dangdut, was played at dance halls in amusement parks, bangsawan shows, early singers were often Filipinos originally brought to Malaya by the British to form the Selangor State Band, for example Soliano, DCruz and Martinez. In the 1960s and 1970s, influenced by Western rock bands, from the 1970s to 1980s, a Western orchestral sound also became popular as musical accompaniment in albums, which is widely assumed to be due to the influence of RTM Orchestra. Other musical forms such as Indian, Islamic and other Asian popular music have also exerted their influences at various times, and many international trends in music surfaced in Malaysian pop. Hindustani music had a influence on many traditional types of music in the Malay Peninsula, for example in the use of instruments such as the tabla. More recently, music of J-pop and K-pop have become influential, the first recording of music in Malaya was made 1903 by Fred Gaisberg of the Gramophone Company who was sent to record local music in Asia. Until the 1960s, few records were produced locally, and recordings of the singers and film stars done in Malaya were pressed in India, one of the earliest modern Malay pop songs was Tudung Periok, sung by Momo Latiff, who recorded it in the 1930s. Many of the stars became popular through Malay films in the early era. In the 1940s and 1950s, singers who achieved popularity through their films and recordings were P. Ramlee, R. Azmi, Jasni, Ahmad C. B. S. M. Salim, Saloma, Momo Latif, some of these singers had Bangsawan or Kroncong background. The songs of this era were influenced by music styles such as those of Latin American dance, Hawaiian music. The most important of the singers was P. Ramlee whose career spanned the late 1940s through early 1970s

21.
EMI
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EMI was a British multinational conglomerate founded in March 1931 and was based in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, it was the fourth-largest business group and its EMI Records Ltd. group of record labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records and Capitol Records. EMI also had a publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing—also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, other members of the Sony consortium include the Estate of Michael Jackson, The Blackstone Group, and Abu Dhabi–owned investment fund Mubadala Development Company. The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording, the companys gramophone manufacturing led to forty years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set, post-war, the company resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing the BBCs second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC, the commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, the company was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers. This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, in 1958 the EMIDEC1100, the UKs first commercially available all-transistor computer, was developed at Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer at EMI. In 1973 EMI was awarded a prestigious Queens Award for Technological Innovation for what was called the EMI scanner. After brief, but brilliant, success in the imaging field, EMIs manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies. Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes, Scotland, was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft, of California, US and it manufactured integrated circuits electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established subsidiary operations in a number of countries in the British Commonwealth, including India, Australia. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around the world are held in EMIs temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, in 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at Abbey Road, London. During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini, Sir Edward Elgar, during this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin, who brought the Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931, at this point RCA had a majority shareholding in the new company, giving RCA chair David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board

22.
P. Ramlee
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Tan Sri Datuk Amar Teuku Zakaria Teuku Nyak Putih, commonly known as P. Ramlee was a Malaysian film actor, director, singer, songwriter, composer, and producer. P. Ramlee, or Teuku Zakaria was born on 22 March 1929 to Teuku Nyak Puteh bin Teuku Karim and his father, Teuku Nyak Puteh, travelled from Lhokseumawe in Aceh, Indonesia) to settle in Penang, where his mother is from. Ramlee received his education from the Sekolah Melayu Kampung Jawa, Francis Light English School and then to Penang Free School, reportedly a reluctant student, Ramlee was nevertheless talented in music and football. His studies at the Penang Free School was interrupted by the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945 and he also learnt the basics of music and to sing Japanese songs during this period. When the war ended, he took music lessons that enabled him to musical notations. His first screen appearance was in Chinta, a B. S. Rajhans-directed film produced by Malay Film Productions in 1948, between 1948 and 1955, he has starred in a total of 27 films. He eventually ventured into film directing under the mentoring of Madras-born director L. Krishnan, on 29 May 1973, P. Ramlee died at the age of 44 years old from a heart attack and was buried at Jalan Ampang Muslim Cemetery, in Kuala Lumpur. In 1982, the street Jalan Parry, in the center of Kuala Lumpur, was renamed Jalan P. Ramlee in his honour. In 1990, he was awarded the Malaysian honorific title Tan Sri, and then in 2009. Then Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud, a fan of P. Ramlee, presented the award to his adopted daughter, Dian P. Ramlee. The P. Ramlee House is a museum situated along Jalan P. Ramlee in Penang, the building is a restored wooden house that was originally built in 1926 by his father and uncle. The house had undergone multiple repairs before being taken over by the National Archives as an extension of its P. Ramlee Memorial project in Kuala Lumpur. Items on display at the house include personal memorabilia related to his life in Penang, darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara - Awarded on September 1962. Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia - Awarded posthumously on 6 Jun 1990, darjah Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Kenyalang Sarawak - Awarded posthumously on 2009. P. Ramlee was posthumously granted the soubriquet Seniman Agung, P. Ramlees Profile, sinemamalaysia. com. my P. Ramlee Cyber Museum P. Ramlee, Namamu Dijulang, Jasamu Dikenang Astro special tribute Program, October 2010 P. Ramlee at the Internet Movie Database

23.
Kuala Lumpur
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Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, or more commonly called KL is the national capital of Malaysia as well as its largest city. Being rated as an Alpha world city, Kuala Lumpur is the global city in Malaysia which covers an area of 243 km2 and has an estimated population of 1.73 million as of 2016. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an agglomeration of 7.25 million people as of 2017. It is among the fastest growing regions in South-East Asia, in terms of population. Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia, the city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they were moved to Putrajaya in early 1999. Some sections of the judiciary still remain in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is situated in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic centre of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city. Kuala Lumpur is one of three Federal Territories of Malaysia, enclaved within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to international sporting, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and it is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysias futuristic development. Kuala Lumpur means muddy confluence, kuala is the point where two rivers join together or an estuary, and lumpur means mud. One suggestion is that it was named after Sungai Lumpur, it was recorded in 1824 that Sungei Lumpoor was the most important tin-producing settlement up the Klang River. It has also proposed that Kuala Lumpur was originally named Pengkalan Lumpur in the same way that Klang was once called Pengkalan Batu. Another suggestion is that it was initially a Cantonese word lam-pa meaning flooded jungle or decayed jungle, there is however no firm contemporary evidence for these suggestions other than anecdotes. It is also possible that the name is a form of an earlier. It is unknown who founded or named the settlement called Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur was originally a small hamlet of just a few houses and shops at the confluence of Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang before it grew into a town. The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued their journey on foot to Ampang where the first mine was opened

24.
The Blue Diamonds (duo)
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The Blue Diamonds were a Dutch 1960s rock and roll duo, best known for their million-selling chart-topping single, Ramona. Indo brothers Ruud de Wolff and Riem de Wolff founded the group shortly after immigrating to the Netherlands in 1949 and they were born in Batavia, Indonesia. Called the Dutch Everly Brothers, The Blue Diamonds covered many Everly Brothers songs, but became famous in 1960 with their version of Ramona, the song was written for promotional appearances with Dolores del Río but not featured in the film itself. The Blue Diamonds up-tempo version of it reached the American Billboard Hot 100 at number 72 in 1960 and it sold over 250,000 copies in the Netherlands and over one million copies in Germany by 1961. Although their last hit was in 1971, they continued to perform together up until Ruud de Wolff died at the end of year 2000, Riem de Wolff continues to perform and release albums

25.
Cliff Richard
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Sir Cliff Richard OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor and philanthropist. Richard has sold more than 250 million records worldwide and he has total sales of over 21 million singles in the United Kingdom and is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Richard was originally positioned as a rock and roll singer in the style of Little Richard. With his backing group, The Shadows, Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the period of the late 1950s to early 1960s. Increased focus on his Christian faith and subsequent softening of his music later led to a middle of the road pop image. He has had more than 130 singles, albums and EPs make the UK Top 20, Richard has had 67 UK top ten singles, the second highest total for an artist behind Elvis Presley. Richard holds the record as the act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades. He has achieved 14 UK No.1 singles, and is the singer to have had a No.1 single in the UK in five consecutive decades. Richard has never achieved the same impact in the United States despite eight US Top 40 singles, including the million-selling Devil Woman and We Dont Talk Anymore. He has remained a music, film, and television personality in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Northern Europe and Asia. Richard has been a resident in the United Kingdom for most of his life and he divides his time between living in Barbados and Portugal. Harry Rodger Webb was born in India at King Georges Hospital, Victoria Street, in Lucknow and his parents were Rodger Oscar Webb, a manager for a catering contractor that serviced the Indian Railways, and the former Dorothy Marie Dazely. Richard is primarily of English heritage, but he has one great-grandmother who was of half Welsh and half Spanish descent, the Webb family lived in a modest home in Maqbara, near the main shopping centre of Hazratganj. Dorothys mother served as the matron at the La Martiniere Girls School. In 1948, following Indian independence, the family embarked on a sea voyage to Tilbury, Essex. The Webbs moved from comparative wealth in India, where lived in a company-supplied flat at Howrah near Calcutta. Harry Webb attended a primary school, Stanley Park Juniors. He then attended Cheshunt Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1957, as a member of the top stream, he stayed on beyond the minimum leaving age to take GCE Ordinary Level examinations and gained a pass in English literature

26.
The Beatles
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The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. They acquired the nickname the Fab Four as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, from 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road, after their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in November 2001. The Beatles are the band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act, according to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazines list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, as of 2016 and they have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and they were also collectively included in Time magazines compilation of the twentieth centurys 100 most influential people. In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to the Quarrymen after discovering that a local group was already using the other name. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after he, in February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison to watch the band. The fourteen-year-old auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, after a month of Harrisons persistence, they enlisted him as their lead guitarist. By January 1959, Lennons Quarry Bank friends had left the group, the three guitarists, billing themselves at least three times as Johnny and the Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They used the name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles, before undertaking a tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer. By early July, they had changed their name to the Silver Beatles, allan Williams, the Beatles unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg, but lacking a full-time drummer they auditioned and hired Pete Best in mid-August 1960

27.
Malays (ethnic group)
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These locations today are part of the modern nations of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and southern Thailand. In literature, architecture, culinary traditions, traditional dress, performing arts, martial arts, throughout their history, the Malays have been known as a coastal-trading community with fluid cultural characteristics. The epic literature, the Malay Annals, associates the etymological origin of Melayu to Sungai Melayu in Sumatra, the English term Malay was adopted via the Dutch word Malayo, itself derived from Portuguese, Malaio, which originates from the original Malay word, Melayu. Prior to the 15th century, the term Melayu and its variants appear to apply as an old toponym to the Strait of Malacca region in general. Malaya Dwipa, Malaya Dvipa, is described in chapter 48, Vayu Purana as one of the provinces in the sea that was full of gold. Some scholars equate the term with Sumatra, but several Indian scholars believe the term should refer to the mountainous Malay peninsula, maleu-kolon - appeared in Ptolemys work, Geographia. Mo-lo-yu - mentioned by Yijing, a Tang dynasty Chinese Buddhist monk who visited the Southeast Asia in 688–695, according to Yijing, the Mo-Lo-Yu kingdom was located in a distance of 15 day sail from Bogha, the capital of Sribhoga. It took a 15-day sail as well to reach Ka-Cha from Mo-lo-yu, therefore, a popular theory relates Mo-Lo-Yu with the Jambi in Sumatra, however the geographical location of Jambi contradicts with Yi Jings description of a half way sail between Ka-Cha and Bogha. Among the terms used was Bok-la-yu, Mok-la-yu, Ma-li-yu-er, Oo-lai-yu - traced from the source of monk Xuanzang). Malayur - inscribed on the wall of the Brihadeeswarar Temple in Tamil Nadu. It was described as a kingdom that had a mountain for its rampart in Malay peninsula. Bhūmi Mālayu -, a transcription from Padang Roco Inscription dated 1286 CE by Slamet Muljana, the term is associated with Dharmasraya kingdom. Ma-li-yu-er - mentioned in the chronicle of Yuan Dynasty, referring to a nation of Malay peninsula that faced the southward expansion of Sukhothai Kingdom, the chronicle stated. Animosity occurred between Siam and Ma-li-yu-er with both killing each other. In response to the Sukhothais action, a Chinese envoy went to the Ram Khamhaengs court in 1295 bearing an imperial decree, Keep your promise and do no evil to Ma-li-yu-er. Malauir - mentioned in Marco Polos account as a kingdom located in the Malay peninsula, malayapura -, inscribed on the Amoghapasa inscription dated 1347 CE. The term was used by Adityawarman to refer to Dharmasraya. The word Malay refer to Mountain, other evidence that supports this theory include, stone tools found in the Malay Archipelago are analogous to Central Asian tools, the similarity of Malay customs and Assam customs. The New Guinea theory - The proto-Malays are believed to be knowledgeable in oceanography. Over the years they settled at places and adopted various cultures

28.
Malay language
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Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It has a status in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia. As the Bahasa Kebangsaan or Bahasa Nasional of several states, Standard Malay has various official names, in Singapore and Brunei it is called Bahasa Melayu, in Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia, and in Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia and is designated the Bahasa Persatuan/Pemersatu. However, in areas of central to southern Sumatra where the language is indigenous, Indonesians refer to it as Bahasa Melayu and consider it one of their regional languages. There are also several Malay trade and creole languages which are based on a lingua franca derived from Classical Malay, as well as Macassar Malay, Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malay homeland being in western Borneo stretching to the Bruneian coast. A form known as Proto-Malay language was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000 BCE and was, it has been argued, the ancestral language of all subsequent Malayan languages. The history of the Malay language can be divided into five periods, Old Malay, the Transitional Period, the Malacca Period, Late Modern Malay and it is not clear that Old Malay was actually the ancestor of Classical Malay, but this is thought to be quite possible. Old Malay was influenced by Sanskrit literary language of Classical India, Sanskrit loanwords can be found in Old Malay vocabulary. Batenburg on November 29,1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra, on the banks of the Tatang and it is a small stone of 45 by 80 centimetres. The earliest surviving manuscript in Malay is the Tanjong Tanah Law in post-Pallava letters and this 14th-century pre-Islamic legal text produced in the Adityawarman era of Dharmasraya, a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that arose after the end of Srivijayan rule in Sumatra. The laws were for the Minangkabau people, who still live in the highlands of Sumatra. The Malay language came into use as the lingua franca of the Malacca Sultanate. During this period, the Malay language developed rapidly under the influence of Islamic literature, the development changed the nature of the language with massive infusion of Arabic, Malayalam and Sanskrit vocabularies, called Classical Malay. Under the Sultanate of Malacca the language evolved into a form recognisable to speakers of modern Malay, however, there is no connection between Malaccan Malay as used on Riau and the Riau vernacular. One of the oldest surviving letters written in Malay is a letter from Sultan Abu Hayat of Ternate, Maluku Islands in present-day Indonesia, the letter is addressed to the king of Portugal, following contact with Portuguese explorer Francisco Serrão. The letters show sign of non-native usage, the Ternateans used the unrelated Ternate language, Malay was used solely as a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communications. Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia, malagasy, a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, is also a member of this language family. Although each language of the family is mutually unintelligible, their similarities are rather striking, many roots have come virtually unchanged from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language

29.
Tanya Chua
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Tanya Chua is a 3-time Best Female Vocalist Golden Melody Award-winning Singaporean singer-songwriter. She released her album, Bored, in December 1997. Chua then moved to Taiwan in 2006 to focus on the Chinese music industry and she was a judge on Sing My Song for its first two seasons. Chua was born in Singapore in a Chinese family as the younger of two daughters and she attended CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls School and graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a Diploma in Business Administration in 1996. Chua started out singing in English, releasing her first English album, Bored, Chua signed on to Universal Music Taiwan in 1998 and released her first Mandarin album, Breathe, in 1999. That album comprised compositions of her English songs matched to Chinese lyrics by Taiwanese lyricists, in 2001, Chua performed for her own country during the Singapore National Day Parade 2001 with the theme song titled Where I Belong. In 2003, Chua signed a new contract with Warner Music in Taiwan, releasing the album Stranger and her second Warner album, Amphibian, won her a Best Female Artist at Taiwans Golden Melody Awards. The 2006 release of her compilation T-time marked an end to her contract with Warner. Her Goodbye and Hello album was nominated in 7 categories at the 19th Golden Melody Awards where she repeated her Best Mandarin Female Artist win and she followed up with three Singapore Hit Awards for Best Local Lyrics, Outstanding Local Music Achievement, and Asia Media in November 2009. She was praised by Taiwanese producer and songwriter Jonathan Lee as being a musician, in 2008 Lee gave her a handmade guitar in appreciation of her talents. In 2009, Chuas seventh album If You See Him was awarded one of the Top 10 Selling Mandarin Albums of the Year at the 2009 IFPI Hong Kong Album Sales Awards, presented by the Hong Kong branch of IFPI. After 14 years, Chua returns to Singapore to perform for a leg of her Tanya Chua and the Cities world tour in 2011. In 2011, Chua released her eighth Mandarin studio album entitled Sing It Out of Love and also released an English album entitled Just Say So, becoming the first artist to do so. In 2012, Chua won the Best Mandarin Female Artist in the Golden Melody Awards for the time breaking the record as the first female artist to win 3 times in this category. In 2013, her ninth Mandarin studio album entitled Angel & Devil was released, one of the songs in this album “十万毫升泪水”was also used as sub theme song for the hit Singapore drama series “The Dream Makers”. Chua has been a judge on Sing My Song, alchemys Jennifer Ho speaks to Tanya Chua on the Asian Pop Show SBS Radio in English 2008 Tanya Official Site Tanyas Blog Tanya Chua at MySpace

30.
Corrinne May
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Corrinne May is a Los Angeles-based, Singaporean musician, singer, and songwriter. She graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston and her debut album Fly Away, which included a song with Carole King and Carol Bayer Sager titled If You Didnt Love Me, was released in 2001. To date, she has released five albums, the latest being Crooked Lines in 2012, in March 2012, May released her album Crooked Lines, whose inspiration was based on Mays experience with raising her daughter Claire during her four-year career hiatus. The song from the album, Beautiful Life, earned an accolade in 2014 for top local English pop song at the 19th Annual Composers and Authors Society of Singapore Awards. Another song from the album, When I Close My Eyes, was inspired by Claires favorite childrens book of the same name, may recorded acoustic version of Just What I Was Looking For on video. Other tracks of the album are In My Arms, Lazarus,24 Hours, You Believed, Pinocchio, Because of Love, Your Song, Sight of Love, and If You Ask. Corrinne also participated in an album named Celebrate Breath, the twentieth in a series of Celebrate albums from Craig ‘n Co. andco-produced by Kavin Hoo and Todd Herzog. Fly Away Safe in a Crazy World The Gift Beautiful Seed Crooked Lines Corrinne May on Twitter Corrinne May on Blogger Corrinne May on Facebook

31.
Fann Wong
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Fann Woon Fong, better known by her stage name Fann Wong, is a Singaporean actress, singer and model. At Singapores Star Awards 1995, Fann became the first actress to win both the Best Actress and Best Newcomer awards in the same year and she was also the youngest actress to have earned an All-Time Favourite Award at the Star Awards. She married actor Christopher Lee on 29 September 2009, born in Singapore to Hakka tailor parents, Fann shared her childhood with three siblings—an older sister, as well as a younger brother and sister. She was educated at Temasek Secondary School, where she took her GCE O Level examinations in 1987, Wong was a child actor while in primary school and featured in several SBC childrens programmes. At the age of 16, she won a beauty contest organised by Her World and she started a successful modelling career in Singapore, and spent the next two years modelling part-time while taking her GCE A Level examinations at a private school. She afterward earned a diploma in fashion merchandising from LIFS, Fann moved to Taiwan in 1993. One of her earliest successes was in an Oil of Ulan commercial aired in Taiwan, the following year, a Singaporean television producer discovered her and cast her in Dreams Come True, a Singapore drama series. Fann soon starred in two more Singapore television series, The Challenger and Chronicle of Life, after a year in the Singapore television industry, her role in Chronicle of Life won her Best Actress and Best Newcomer awards at Singapores 1995 Star Awards. In 1996, her role in The Unbroken Cycle won her first regional nomination at the Asian Television Awards and she continued to star in a large array of drama serials, including A Romance in Shanghai, Wild Orchids and Brave New World. In late 1996, Fann released in Singapore her first Mandarin pop album Fanntasy, the album was retitled I Live Alone and repackaged with two additional songs for the Taiwanese market and won 4 IFPI platinum sales awards in Taiwan, marking the start of Fanns regional success. In 1998, Fann was named the lead, Xiaolongnü, in TCS remake of the hit wuxia drama The Return of the Condor Heroes where she starred alongside her now-husband. The release of this drama, along with her album, Shopping, further increased her exposure in Taiwan. When Hong Kong director Derek Yee saw Fanns Shopping music video on Hong Kongs Channel V, he flew to Singapore to cast her as the actress in the Hong Kong art film The Truth About Jane. The movie topped the Singapore box office for three weeks and her role as a gritty wild-child won her a Best New Performer nomination at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2000. In addition, her role as a stockbroker in Out to Win attracted a million viewers in Singapore during its finale. It was during this period when Fann acquired many of her die-hard fans, in 1999, Fann released her third album Missing You, recorded Private Number with British boyband 911, and performed Moments of Magic, Singapores official millennium song. These musical successes resulted in her being the first Singapore artiste to stage a solo paying concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 2000 and that same year, she released her fourth Mandarin album, No Problem. During the next few years, Fann focused on her acting career and she played a two-timing television reporter in the omnibus Hong Kong film When I Fall in Love

32.
The Sam Willows
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The Sam Willows is a four member Singaporean pop band formed in May 2012. The group consists of siblings Narelle and Benjamin Kheng, together with their friends Sandra Riley Tang, the quartet’s self-titled freshman EP was released on 27 October 2012. The Sam Willows were formed in December 2011 by founding members, Benjamin Kheng, Jonathan Chua, Narelle Kheng, the band continued on a North American Tour, Korean Tour, and represented Singapore for the Western Australian Music Festival in Perth. In April 2013, the Singaporean quartet entered the studio with Steve Lillywhite for a week-long production session, the result was a reworking of their track Glasshouse, released as the band’s latest single at the time. In August 2013, the released their Glasshouse music video. The band signed to Sony Music Singapore on a 360 deal in January 2015, in February 2015, The Sam Willows embarked on their journey to Stockholm, Sweden to record their debut album, Take Heart, with Producer Harry Sommerdahl. In the same year, the Sam Willows recorded three songs, Flags Up, Ordinary and Champion, for the album, Songs of the Games for the 2015 Southeast Asian Games. On 20 May, they released the first single from their album, the band was the Opening act for The Script at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in April 2015. The Sam Willows performed the song Home during the National Day Parade 2015, the music video for their first single and the title track of their new album Take Heart was released in July 2015. The music video for their second single For Love was released in early October 2015, the single Rest Of Your Life was released in October 2015. On April 2016, the released their music video for their song All Time High. The Sam Willows supported Little Mix on their The Get Weird Tour in Manila, Benjamin Kheng (Chinese, 金文明 was born on August 15,1990 in Singapore. He is the keyboardist, rhythm guitarist and vocalist and he was a former national youth swimmer, having trained since he was 6. He attended Anglo-Chinese School, Anglo-Chinese School, Singapore Sports School and has a diploma in Arts, Jonathan Chua (Chinese, 蔡坚信 was born on February 12,1990 in Singapore. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist, Narelle Kheng (Chinese, 金颂旖 was born on September 24,1993 in Singapore. She is the bass guitarist and vocalist and she was a former national youth swimmer, having trained since she was 6. She attended Methodist Girls School, Singapore, Anglo-Chinese Junior College and Singapore Sports School and she had cameo roles in drama serials Zero Calling and Against The Tide, and starred in a Channel 5 show, Do It Yourself. Sandra Riley Tang was born on December 25,1990 in Singapore and she is the keyboardist, percussionist and vocalist